Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

Dec 13 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions
and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Friday:

** Australia's Queensland state government said it planned
to auction off its Brisbane area toll roads - a sale that might
raise more than $4 billion - to capitalize on strong demand for
the country's infrastructure assets.

** Ivory Coast plans to sell its stakes in 15 companies,
including the national telecoms operator, banks, agribusiness
and a gold mine, as part of a privatization drive aimed at
easing the public debt load and increasing competition.

** Entergy Corp called off a $1.78 billion plan to
divest its transmission operation to ITC Holdings Corp,
three days after Mississippi regulators rejected the plan.

** Chilean drugmaker CFR Pharmaceuticals sweetened
its cash and stock takeover offer for South Africa's Adcock
Ingram by 1.6 percent to 12.8 billion rand ($1.23
billion) on Friday in an attempt to fend off a rival bid from a
local firm.

** Nationalized Austrian lender Hypo Alpe Adria
got a green light for 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) in more
state aid on Friday when its board approved issuing more
non-voting shares that the state will buy within days.

** Restaurant and arcade chain Dave & Buster's Inc
is exploring a sale or initial public offering that could value
the company at more than $1 billion, according to people
familiar with the matter.

** U.S. insurer American International Group is in
talks to sell its aircraft leasing business to AerCap Holdings
NV, a person briefed on the discussions said.

** Hungary's MOL has agreed to pay BASF
$375 million for some North Sea oil and gas projects, adding a
new region to its upstream business.

** India's GMR Infrastructure Ltd said a deal to
sell its 40 percent stake in Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport
was in progress and not concluded yet, after a local newspaper
reported it had sold the stake for 220 million euro ($303
million).

** Swedish industrial 3D printer maker Arcam is
buying the metal powder division of Canada's Raymor Industries
for up to C$35 million ($33 million), in a move to secure supply
to meet growing demand.

** The Portuguese government will likely relaunch the
privatization of national airline TAP in the first quarter of
2014, Chief Executive Fernando Pinto said.

** EchoStar Corp and Vivendi's Brazilian
unit GVT said they had ended talks to set up a pay-TV venture in
Brazil.

** The board of Italy's Banca Etruria has decided
as soon as possible to launch a process to merge with another
bank, the mid-sized lender said.

** The co-founder of hedge fund firm Cube Capital is
spinning out its real estate business into a new entity, in a
move that Cube said will reassure investors it is focused solely
on managing hedge funds.

** Freight-only airline Cargolux approved a
cooperation deal with a group of Chinese investors, paving the
way for the Luxembourg government to sell its 35 percent stake
in the group.

** Simon Property Group Inc, the largest owner of
U.S. malls and outlet centers, will spin off its strip malls and
smaller shopping centers into a publicly traded REIT to focus
solely on its larger retail properties.

** An Italian state-backed fund and private equity firm CCMP
Capital are the leading candidates to buy a stake in fashion
house Versace, sources familiar with the matter said.

Dec 8 Fixed annuity service provider Athene
Holding Ltd said its initial public offering of 27
million class A shares raised $1.1 billion after the offering
was priced in the mid-point of its expected range, valuing the
company at about $7.55 billion.

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